


Anniversary

by oceanowlie



Category: One Piece
Genre: AU, F/M, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-14
Updated: 2016-05-14
Packaged: 2018-06-08 10:34:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6851170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oceanowlie/pseuds/oceanowlie





	Anniversary

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Carmila](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Carmila/gifts).



Hesitantly Robin switched off the water stream which had warmed up her body for the last thirty minutes. She began to freeze instantly and got herself a towel before she opened the window. The cold air that entered the room gave her goosebumps and made her hurry up with getting dry. When she was done, the mirror was still fogged.  
'Who needs makeup anyway?' She thought but regretted it a moment later. That was a really lame excuse. It wouldn't hurt anyone if she put at least some effort in her looks, right?

_“Hey Robin! How long are you going to stay in there?“ Zoro asked through the closed door of the bathroom. She replied with laughter._  
_“Ladies always need a bit longer in the bathroom in the morning, you should know that by now.“_  
_“_ Every _morning, seriously?!”_  
_“Yes, obviously.” She laughed again. They just had moved in together after four years of spending every night together in one of their apartments anyway. He was used to this but still he seemed to enjoy making a big deal of it._  
_“Fine.” She could hear the grin in his voice._  
_“Then I'll just come in.” And without waiting for her to agree, he rushed into the small bathroom and hugged her from behind._  
_“Zoro, what do you think are you doing?” She tried to appear angry but his boyish grin made her smile as well, as always. “You're such a dork.” She said softly and kissed his cheek._  
_“That's all your fault.” He looked at her mirrored self in a very serious way. “You are the one who snuck out of bed just to take a shower without me.”_  
_Robin continued applying mascara. “Yes. Because I have to go to work, just like you.”_  
_Zoro seemed quite unfazed by that. “That's still no reason to get up an hour and a half before you actually have to leave home.”_  
_She sighed. “I don't like to be in a hurry in the morning. And if you want to spend a few more minutes per day with me, you're free to get up for fifteen _minutes and have a coffee with me.”__  
_“But staying in bed with you is so much more comfortable~” Zoro insisted already knowing what her answer would be._  
_“That's what weekends are for.” She gave him another kiss. “Come on, don't give me that look. Before you realise it the day will be over and we'll see each other again.”_  
_He smiled and nodded. They left the bathroom together._

The line of her eyeliner was a bit shaky, but what did she expect? It had been weeks since she last applied some. She sighed and put the pencil away. People wouldn't get close enough to notice so there was no need for another try. She added mascara and a light-colored lipstick; she couldn't put enough more effort in her looks, she had no patience left and couldn't look at herself anymore.  
Robin looked at herself. Her face seemed unfamiliar, as if she was looking at someone she barely knew; the feeling got worse the closer she looked at the details. She cleared her throat in an attempt to make the uncomfortable pressure face a bit, but it was useless.   
“Come on Robin, you can't go outside with only a towel on.” She murmured. Talking to herself was a new habit she didn't like that much and she already had considered getting a pet to make it less weird than it was.  
Walking over to the bedroom was a tough piece of work and she ended up sitting on the rear end of the bed staring into the open wardrobe , unable to pick something. It seemed horridly pointless. … Maybe she should pick something Zoro would like to see on her. 

_“Damn it, I'm late!” Zoro had convinced her to stay on the sofa with him a little longer and now she was running late. “Have you seen my –“ She couldn't finish the sentence because she stumbled over something hard. Robin almost fell down but Zoro caught her._  
_“Your kendo stuff is spread over the floor of the hallway again.” She said in an accsuing tone._  
_“I know.” He said as if it was something completely natural. “I need it again tonight and I didn't see the point in putting it away.” And before she could say something cautionary he added “Also I get another chance to either peek under your skirt one more time or hold you in my arms and pretend to be Prince Charming in shining armor who saved you from hurting your knees.” He laughed._  
_Robin tried to stay serious but couldn't help it and smiled. “I get it. But please put it at least a little more to the side, okay? It's dangerous.”_  
_“... Sorry.” He simply said as he put her back to her feet, but she knew he'd understood. Robin pulled up the zippers of her boots after putting them on and took her bag._  
_“Let me know what you want to have for dinner tonight, okay?” Zoro nodded and got another kiss from her. “And please take care~” Again, he only nodded, but she knew he took her request serious._  
_“See you tonight.” They smiled at each other one last time before she closed the door behind her._

Would it still fit? Robin wasn't too sure when she took the dress off the hanger. The zipper went up without any problem but as soon as she looked into the mirror she regretted her choice. The dress still fit perfectly around her shoulders but further down it had changed into a more loose fit.  
“Damn it...” She murmured. She was aware that she has lost weight but that much... No surprise she didn't recognise herself in the mirror anymore then. The dress was the one she worn on their first date but little did she look like the woman she had been back then. But he had always liked it so it probably was the best choice for the occasion. She adjusted the straps on her shoulders and noticed the delicate silver ring on her finger she had tried to ignore as much as possible. She also had tried to take it off and put it into her jewelry box but her finger had felt weird, empty, so she put it back on.

_“Oh my god Zoro!” Nami snapped at him. “I can't believe you forgot your girlfriend's birthday!”_  
_Robin looked at her in surprise. She would never have thought that Nami would like her enough to care that much about her feelings. Well, she had overdone it again in Robin's opinion, but Zoro looked incredibly uncomfortable._  
_“I haven't forgotten her birthday!” He tried to defend himself. “I just didn't find a present for her. I didn't want to give her anything random she doesn't like anyway.”_  
_“But –“ Nami started again but Robin interrupted her. “It's okay, Nami. Don't worry, I'm fine.”_  
_She smiled at Zoro. “You're here with me, that means a lot to me.” It really did, this wasn't a lie. But still she was disappointed and she wasn't too sure whether she could hide it from Zoro since he knew her better than she often realised. Usopp managed to release some of the tension in the room though by suggesting another party game and of course most of the other guests joined him to get back in their comfort zone. Nami gave Zoro another angry glare before she walked over to the group._  
_Later that night Zoro and Robin walked home silently. Robin wasn't an unforgiving person but somehow she didn't feel like talking. And maybe Zoro didn't dare to talk to her due to what had happened earlier. The clicking noise of the lock was a relief, not only because Robin started to feel cold. February was definitely still too cold for longer walks at night._  
_“Robin...” Zoro began but paused again as if he wasn't sure how to put his thoughts in words._  
_She smiled at him. “It's okay, really. Let's not talk about it anymore. I just need to go to the bathroom before we go to bed.”_  
_Obviously that wasn't what Zoro had wanted to say but instead of correcting her, he stared at the entrance door as if it was all its fault._  
_When she left the bathroom again a few minutes later she expected to meet him in the bedroom. Therefore she was even more surprised when he suddenly hugged her from behind and pulled her close to his body._  
_“What is it?” Robin asked softly._  
_“I'm sorry.” He murmured close to her ear. “I didn't mean to ruin your birthday. It's just … You know... Nami is always so pushy and … Well, I didn't dare to give you my present in front of her.”_

Robin smiled as she remembered how insecure Zoro had been in that moment. The ring wasn't an engagement ring, but the engraved date on its inside told her everything she had to know. It had been the day when she reported that someone had stolen her laptop bag to a young police officer with green hair. Robin swallowed hard. Tears were useless right now, they'd only ruin her face eventually.  
When she left the bedroom to put her coat on in the hallway, she walked past Zoro's kendo bag. It was still lying on the floor, simply pushed aside a bit. It was hard to take her eyes off of it; the bag had the same effect on her as his side of the bed. That was why she avoided those parts of the apartment as much as possible. Robin took a deep breath and took her coat off the hook. Although the sun was shining, it was freezing cold outside. The rain during the night had cooled down the air a lot and inhaling outside hurt a little the first few times. The day left a weird impression on her, everything seemed wrong. Rain would've been more appropriate. Or snow. It was already November so why was the sky bright blue?

_Heavy rain had helped the cherry blossom trees to turn their playful pink into the lush green of summer. Robin's clothes were soaked as she finally reached their home but she was in a good mood nonetheless. Her boss had told her that day that they were able to keep her employed for another two years which was something she had really hoped for. She would be able to continue her work on that project. Since Zoro hadn't told her about his wishes for dinner yet, one of their usual habits, she decided on her own that she would surprise him._  
_Zoro was late by an hour. Usually he informed her when he had to work longer but not this time. He also didn't react to messages and calls. Something obviously wasn't right here but she didn't know what it was. It took her another fifteen minutes to decide to call his station and ask whether he was still there. She remembered that his colleagues used to laugh at him for bringing bento from home and she didn't want to bring that back._

The noise of the bus' engine interrupted her train of thoughts for a moment. A look up told her that she left it at the right station; otherwise she would have had to wait for a while. Hesitantly she walked past the entrance gate of the cemetery.

_The moment she picked up the phone, the door bell rang. Strange. Had Zoro forgotten his keys in the morning? With the phone still in her hand she walked over to the entrance door and opened it. It was … Jinbei? She felt as if someone had poured crushed ice into her stomach._  
_“Yes~?” Her voice sounded weirdly thin._  
_“Hi Robin.” Jinbei did his best to smile. “May I come in?”_  
_Robin nodded and stepped aside. They had met once or twice when she had accompanied Zoro to private parties with his colleagues. She lead him into the living room and got him something to drink before she sat down next to him._  
_“How bad is it?” She blurted out before Jinbei could say anything._  
_He stayed silent for a moment as if he needed to put the words back in order. “Today Zoro and his partner got involved in a fight between teenagers. Usually this is not a big deal and the kids leave as soon as they see police officers. We found out that these kids were part of different mafia clans and carried guns with them.” Jinbei paused again. “Zoro tried to help since there were children on the playground right next to the street were the young men had their fight. At first everything looked alright, the tension was gone but then it escalated again so quickly that he didn't have a chance to react.” He cleared his throat. “Robin, I'm so sorry. Zoro got hit by several bullets and didn't make it to the hospital in time. … He won't come home anymore.”_

Robin carefully placed the lit candle in front of the tombstone. The memory of that moment still made her feel as if she was loosing the ground under her feet. Her mind felt crammed and empty at the same time.  
“I'm sorry it took me so long to drop by.” She said quietly. She wanted to add 'Happy birthday', but it suddenly felt so wrong. Tears started streaming down her cheeks. She missed him so much and the feeling of being powerless upon the fact that he wouldn't come back no matter what she could do left her in shock. She sat down on the cold ground and looked at the letters that were carved into the stone, ignoring that she couldn't read them anyway thanks to the tears in her eyes. Maybe he would pick her up if only she waited long enough for him...


End file.
